Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

Building upon a related 2005 panel presentation at the 25th annual Lilly Conference on College Teaching, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, the authors, several tenure-track assistant professors and tenured associate professors who have participated in a Research and Teaching Faculty Learning Community at Bowling Green State University, share their…

This report analyzes the relationship of Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) teacher practices and student performance on AP Biology and AP U.S. History Exams. Using a national survey of AP teachers, the study developed four models for each subject with public school teachers only and both public and nonpublic school teachers, using two standards of…

One hundred and sixteen test administrators in Job Service offices throughout the United States who are currently using the automated typing test software were contacted by telephone about the software. Sixty-nine percent have used the software less than 1 year, and 21 percent have used it more than 1 year. In 78 percent of the offices, there is…

The Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) Program (a performance-based assessment program) was developed to enable the Connecticut State Department of Education to implement legislation requiring beginning teachers to achieve a satisfactory evaluation on a professional knowledge clinical assessment during their initial year of teaching.…

In the summer of 1996, the U.S. Armed Services will implement the computerized adaptive testing version of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (CAT-ASVAB). When conversion is completed at the 65 targeted military entrance processing stations, about half the applicants will take this test version. This paper describes the efforts that…

This study investigated the convergent validity of expert-system scores for four mathematical constructed-response item formats. A five-factor model was proposed comprised of four constructed-response format factors and a Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test quantitative factor. Subjects were drawn from examinees taking a single form of…

It was hypothesized that, when compared to the Angoff method (W. H. Angoff, 1971), the Nedelsky method (L. Nedelsky, 1954) for standard setting had lower intrajudge inconsistency, lower cutscores, and lower cutscores especially for items presenting challenges to the judges. These hypotheses were tested and supported in a sample of 22 graduate…

The testing of grammar is one of the mainstays of language testing, since it can be argued that a basic knowledge of grammar underlies the ability to use language to express meaning. The most common way of testing grammatical knowledge is the multiple-choice test, and the most common multiple-choice item is one in which the student selects a word…

Educational measurement is undergoing a revolution due to the rapid dissemination of information-processing technology. The recent growth in computing resources and their widespread dissemination in daily life have brought about irreversible changes in educational measurement. Recent developments in computerized measurement are summarized by…

Grade-equivalent scores are widely used in the school system in reporting students' performance on standardized achievement tests. This paper explores how grade equivalent scores are calculated and interpreted. In addition, the paper examines the limitations of grade-equivalent scores through the use of small heuristic data sets. A…

This paper presents and evaluates a new procedure to classify examinees into meaningful categories based on their responses to (performance on) items comprising a test instrument. The proposed procedure uses the data analytic technique of cluster analysis to partition the examinee population into homogeneous groupings. This procedure was applied…

This report describes an experiment in constructed response testing undertaken in conjunction with the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Constructed response questions are those that require students to produce their own response rather than selecting the correct answer from several options. Participants in this experiment…

The French as a Second Language model tests for junior high school instruction presented here were designed to evaluate students' language performance as outlined in the learner expectations of the Alberta (Canada) second language curriculum. They focus on the specific fields of experience of these levels, but may be adapted for local contexts. An…

The French as a Second Language model test (intermediate level) was designed as a criterion-referenced test using established criteria to measure attainment of learner expectations outlined in the Alberta (Canada) second language curriculum. It is intended for use at the junior and senior high school levels. Each test is based on an organizing…